


The Great Escape

by ellykomskaikru



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-18 03:45:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8148118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellykomskaikru/pseuds/ellykomskaikru
Summary: Canon divergent, in which the hundred are sentenced to die on the Ark, so Bellamy and Clarke hatch a plan (with the help of Raven and Wells) to save them by stealing a dropship and escaping to Earth.





	1. Chapter One

Bellamy lounged against the wall outside the doors to the infirmary, hands in his pockets, gaze fixed firmly on his boots in an attempt to avoid making eye contact with the other young men all silently lined up behind him, waiting. Almost all of them were from Alpha station and this made him nervous. Underprivileged, working class boys like him didn’t often make it into the guard and he needed this medical to go well and he was going to have any chance whatsoever. The extra rations alone would make the world of difference to his struggling family, especially to Octavia, who was a growing teenager. Besides, he was well aware of what his mother had to do to get him his letter of recommendation and there was no way in hell he was going to let that have been for nothing.   
“Bellamy Blake?”  
The sound of his own name brought him out of his reverie and he looked up. The speaker, a pretty olive-skinned young man motioned for Bellamy to follow him through the infirmary doors.   
“I’m Jackson,” said the man as he led Bellamy into an unoccupied examination room and directed him to sit on the narrow metal cot within. “Just wait here, someone should be along shortly to draw some blood”.   
Jackson exited the room and Bellamy perched on the edge of the cot. He didn’t have to wait long, less than a minute later the door to the exam room opened, admitting a girl with long blonde hair tied back in a braid and holding a kidney dish in her left hand. As she moved to sit beside him, Bellamy was surprised to note how young she looked, sixteen or seventeen at the most, the same age as his little sister.   
“I’m Clarke Griffin,” she introduced herself, fixing Bellamy with her intense blue eyes. “You’re Bellamy Blake?”  
He nodded as she gently took hold of his elbow. Bellamy’s heart, which was already beating uncomfortably fast from nerves, managed to quicken still further as Clarke swabbed the crook of his arm with a piece of sterile gauze. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from the expression of intense concentration that had settled over her features.   
“You look kind of young to be a doctor,” he blurted, before he could think better of it. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Clarke’s mouth quirk into a smile.   
“I’m an apprentice”.  
She removed a butterfly needle and vacutainer from the kidney dish.   
“I didn’t realize apprentices were allowed to go around stabbing future guardsmen,” Bellamy quipped as Clarke carefully positioned the needle over a vein in his forearm. She was still smiling.   
“We’re not, usually, but we’re understaffed today”.  
“Must be my lucky day,” Bellamy grinned. He could have sworn he noticed a faint blush creeping into Clarke’s cheeks. She cleared her throat a little awkwardly.   
“Um…this might sting a little”.  
A moment later, Bellamy felt the sharp pinch of the needle entering his skin. He and Clarke were silent for several minutes as they watched the blood flow through the thin, flexible tube attached to the needle and into the vacutainer. When it was full, Clarke removed the needle in one fluid, practiced motion, using her thumb to apply pressure to the puncture it had left in Bellamy’s skin. He could feel his own pulse beating beneath her touch. All too soon, Clarke released his arm and began to gather up her instruments in readiness to leave. At the door she paused, turning back to offer Bellamy a soft smile.   
“Good luck, by the way, I think you’ll make a great cadet”.  
Bellamy started to say thank you, but Clarke had already exited the room and he was once again alone. 

Four Months Later

“Prisoner 319, please stand and face the rear wall”.  
Clarke rose slowly from the bed, where she had been lying curled on her side and turned to face the rear wall of her tiny cell. She paid no attention to the guardsman who had arrived to bring her breakfast, until she heard him say her name.   
“Clarke?”  
She spun around to face the young man standing in the doorway, who was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face and took in his dark, slicked back hair, warm brown eyes and freckles. Recognition dawned on her suddenly as, from the depths of her memory, the details of a long forgotten encounter in the infirmary during her medical apprenticeship started to come back to her. A wry smile spread across her lips.   
“So I’m guessing you passed that medical”.   
“Clarke, what are you doing here? What happened?” Bellamy Blake demanded, shock and disbelief clearly evident in his voice.  
Clarke supposed she couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t often that someone from Alpha station ended up in the skybox.   
She shrugged.   
“It’s kind of a long story, my dad…” she broke off as tears sprang to her eyes.   
“Hey, it’s okay”. Bellamy stepped forward, closing the gap between them and placing a consoling hand on Clarke’s shoulder. “Your dad was Jake Griffin, wasn’t he?”  
Clarke nodded, hastily wiping away the tears that had begun to spill down her cheeks. “How did you know?”  
Bellamy grinned. “When a cute medical apprentice with the surname Griffin sticks a needle in your arm, it tends to leave an impression”.  
Clarke smiled back in spite of herself.  
“Cadet Blake,” a voice called from the corridor outside the cell.   
Bellamy threw a glance over his shoulder before turning back to Clarke. “That’s my lieutenant, I have to go”. He squeezed Clarke’s shoulder gently. “But I’ll come back and see you when I can, okay? I promise”.  
Clarke wasn’t quite sure why the boy whom she barely knew was being so nice to her, but she was grateful. After all, she was hardly in a position to pass up friends.   
“Hey, Bellamy?”  
Once more standing in the doorway of the cell, Bellamy turned back to Clarke.   
“Thank you, you’re the first person who’s actually been nice to me since I’ve been in here”.  
“See you soon, princess”.  
Bellamy gave Clarke one last smile before the door slid shut behind him. 

***

“Hey, Blake!”  
Bellamy looked up from the floor he was mopping at the three young men, all wearing guardsman’s jackets, who were coming down the corridor towards him. As they drew closer, he recognized them as cadets from his old unit. He didn’t return their greeting, just dropped his gaze and went on with his work. If recent events had taught him anything, it was to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. It was just a pity he hadn’t learned that lesson in time to save his mother and Octavia.   
“Hey Blake, I’m talking to you!”  
The three cadets drew level with Bellamy and the one who had spoken, a tall, unpleasant boy from Alpha station named Graham, grabbed the back of Bellamy’s shirt and yanked him backwards. Bellamy spun around, pushing Graham off him. The other boy laughed nastily.  
“Oh, you want to play, do you?”  
“Just leave me alone,” Bellamy muttered, turning his back to Graham.   
The next thing he knew, two pairs of hands had grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him onto his knees.   
“I’ll teach you to turn your back on a guardsman, janitor,” Graham snarled.  
Bellamy yelled as Graham’s boot connected with his stomach. He went sprawling backwards, landing hard, the back of his head bouncing off the floor. Graham’s friends started to laugh, holding Bellamy down while Graham laid into him, landing kicks wherever he could. The heel of his boot glanced off the side of Bellamy’s skull and then everything went black.

When Bellamy came to, his head was pounding and he had no idea where he was. He forced himself up onto his elbows and looked around, blinking groggily. He appeared to be in the infirmary, although he wasn’t sure how he’d come to be there. Someone had laid him out on a cot and removed his shirt. There was a clean bandage wrapped around his bruised ribs. Curtains had been arranged around the bed, presumably to give him privacy while he slept, but a moment later they were pulled aside, revealing a older woman with dark eyes and long, dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.  
“Welcome back,” she said, smiling warmly at Bellamy. “How are you feeling?”  
Bellamy shrugged as the woman moved to sit on the edge of the cot.  
“My head hurts”.  
The woman produced a small torch from the pocket of her jacket and shone it briefly into Bellamy’s eyes.   
“Well, you don’t appear to have a concussion, I’ll get you something for the pain”. She leaned across the space between them, taking Bellamy’s hand and squeezing gently. “I’m Doctor Griffin by the way”.  
“Bellamy Blake,” he paused suddenly, frowning. “Wait, Griffin? As in Clarke?”  
“You know my daughter?”  
Bellamy nodded. “Well, I met her a couple of times, I used to be a guardsman”.  
Doctor Griffin opened her mouth as though to speak, but at that moment, the figure of a man suddenly appeared behind her. Bellamy recognized him immediately.   
“You’re lucky Vice Chancellor Kane found you,” said Doctor Griffin, looking from the man standing behind her to Bellamy.   
“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” said Kane, nodding at Bellamy before turning his attention to Doctor Griffin. “Abby, could we speak in private, please?”  
“Of course,” responded Doctor Griffin. She turned back to Bellamy, giving his hand one last squeeze. “Sit tight, I’ll bring you something for that headache”.   
She rose from the bed and followed Kane outside, pulling the curtain closed behind her. Perhaps Kane didn’t realize Bellamy could hear him. Perhaps he didn’t care.   
“Abby, there’s no easy way to tell you this, the oxygen crisis, it’s worse than we first suspected and the Council has decided…”  
“You mean Thelonius has decided”.  
“Chancellor Jaha has decided that in order to preserve the life support systems and buy the Ark more time, we’re to execute all delinquent prisoners and I’m afraid…” There was a long pause. “Abby, I’m afraid that this would include your daughter”.

Clarke didn’t see Bellamy again for quite some time. Unity Day came and went, unmarked by celebrations in the skybox, but judging by the hangovers the guardsmen were all nursing the following day, she guessed the moonshine had been flowing elsewhere on the Ark. Eventually, she lost track of how many days had passed since Bellamy had promised to come back and see her and she began to feel stupid for having taken him at his word. After all, who was she to him, in reality? No one, just some random girl he barely knew. Then one night, she was awoken by the sound of her cell door sliding open. This in itself was not an unusual occurrence as the guardsmen often performed random bed checks during the night. Still half asleep, Clarke rolled onto her side and waited for the door to slide closed again. It didn’t. Instead, she heard the sound of boots stepping across the threshold and a soft voice whispering, “Clarke? Clarke, are you awake?”  
Clarke’s eyes immediately snapped open and she sat bolt upright in bed. There, kneeling beside her cot, was none other than Bellamy Blake, grinning at her startled expression.   
“Hey, princess, long time, no see”.  
“Bellamy, what the hell?” Clarke hissed. “It’s the middle of the damn night! I thought you’d come see me while you were on duty”.  
Bellamy’s face fell. “Yeah, about that, I’m not exactly a guardsman anymore”.  
“Wait, what?”  
Clarke shook her head, trying to clear the haze of sleep from her mind. She pushed the thin, prison issue blanket off her legs and swung them over the side of the bed so that she was facing Bellamy square on.   
“I think you’d better start from the beginning”.   
Bellamy paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. “Look, I don’t really know how to tell you this, but I was in the infirmary today and I overheard your mother talking to Vice Chancellor Kane”.  
Clarke’s mouth fell open as Bellamy explained the Council’s plan to conserve oxygen. She remained silent for several long moments after he’d finished, her heart racing and her stomach churning. Then her logical, scientist’s brain kicked into gear and she forced herself to follow her fear and panic.   
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep, steadying breath. “Look, no offense, but why does it matter to you? Do you know someone in here?”   
Bellamy nodded. “Yes, my sister”.  
Once again, Clarke was struck dumb. “Sister? You have a sister?”  
She’d heard rumors of unregistered children, whose mothers supposedly ended up being floated, but she’d never really believed them.   
“Her name’s Octavia,” replied Bellamy. “She’s the reason I’m here, she’s locked up and it’s all my fault”.  
And he proceeded to tell her the story of how he’d snuck Octavia into the Unity Day masquerade and how this had led to her being arrested, his mother being floated and he himself being kicked off his guard unit for aiding and abetting in the concealment of an unregistered child.   
“I can’t just sit by and let her die, Clarke,” he finished, sounding desperate. “I promised my mother I’d take care of her, my sister, my responsibility”.   
Clarke leaned forward, taking hold of Bellamy’s hands and squeezing gently. A single tear rolled down his cheek.  
“She’s not going to die,” Clarke assured him. “And nor are the other ninety nine kids in here. The Council doesn’t just get to decide their lives are expendable”.  
Bellamy nodded in agreement. “That’s why I need you, Clarke, you’re smart, you can help me figure this out”.   
Clarke forced herself to ignore the way her heart skipped at Bellamy’s small compliment.   
“Your father knew the Ark was dying, didn’t he?” asked Bellamy, after several moments of silence.   
“Yes,” Clarke responded quietly. “He tried to warn everyone and they floated him for it”.  
“And is that why you’re in here? Because you knew too?”  
She nodded, feeling a lump forming in her throat.  
“I’m so sorry, Clarke”.  
Bellamy ran his thumb along her knuckles and she suddenly became aware that they were still holding hands. She dropped her gaze, cheeks suddenly burning and her eyes fell upon the reproduction of Van Gogh’s Starry Night that she had drawn in charcoal on the floor of the cell, which was just visible behind Bellamy. An idea began to take shape in her mind and she bit her lip, wondering if she dared voice it to Bellamy.   
But he must have read her expression because he said, “What is it? What are you thinking?”  
Clarke took a deep breath before replying. “I was thinking about Earth”.  
Bellamy frowned. “I don’t understand”.  
“Think about it, Bellamy,” said Clarke. “We have to get off the Ark, if we stay they’re going to execute us all”.  
“Clarke, you can’t be serious, Earth isn’t survivable”.  
“But what if it is? What if the Council’s wrong? We wouldn’t just been saving a hundred lived, we’d be saving the lives of everyone on the Ark”.  
Bellamy shook his head, seemingly in utter disbelief. “How would we even get to Earth?”  
“There are dropships on one of the lower decks, they told us about them in tutorial,” replied Clarke, her mind suddenly racing. “They’re easily big enough for a hundred people”.   
“Clarke, those dropships are ancient, you’d never survive the trip”.   
“Maybe not,” said Clarke. “But one way or another, if your sister stays on the Ark, she’s going to die”.  
This had the desired effect.   
“Okay,” said Bellamy, sounding half resigned, half determined. “Tell me how we do this”.


	2. Chapter Two

I can’t believe I let her talk me into this, Bellamy thought to himself for the umpteenth time as he strode down a corridor of Factory station several hours later. When he reached the door at the far end, he stopped and knocked as loudly as he dared.  
“Yeah, alright, I’m coming”.  
The door swung open, revealing a petite girl dressed in a black crop top and loose fitting pants, sleep mussed hair falling over her shoulder in long, dark tresses.   
“What do you want, Blake?” she asked when she saw Bellamy. “I thought you understood, you and me, that was a one time only deal”.  
“Relax, Raven, that’s not why I’m here”.   
Raven leaned against the doorframe, arms folded across her chest.   
“I’m listening”.  
Bellamy glanced back down the corridor, which was deserted at this early hour of the morning. Nevertheless, he wasn’t willing to run the risk that he and Raven might be overheard.   
“Do you think we could talk inside?”  
Rolling her eyes, Raven moved aside and allowed Bellamy to step past into her cramped living quarters.   
“This had better be good,” she said, once they had both seated themselves around her tiny kitchen table.   
“I need your help, Raven, the Council are planning on reducing the population to conserve oxygen, they’re going to execute all the prisoners in the skybox”.  
All of the color suddenly drained from Raven’s face, “My boyfriend’s in the skybox”.   
Bellamy snorted derisively. “You mean the guy who dumped your ass and forced you to see comfort in my arms? Remind me to thank him for that, by the way”.   
“He didn’t dump me, we were taking a break,” snapped Raven. “And don’t change the subject, why does the Council deciding to execute prisoners mean you need my help?”  
“Because I have a plan.”   
And with that, Bellamy told Raven all about Clarke and her completely mad, utterly brilliant idea to smuggle all one hundred prisoners in the skybox off the Ark and down to the ground in one of the old dropships. By the time he’d finished, Raven was shaking her head.  
“She’s insane, you both are, there’s no way those dropships are going to make it to Earth”.   
“That’s where you come in,” said Bellamy. “You’re the youngest zero G mechanic on the Ark in fifty years, if anyone can get a dropship ready to launch, it’s you”.  
“Fifty two,” Raven corrected him automatically.  
“Come on, Reyes,” Bellamy coaxed her. “Prove to me how good you really are, help me save these kids”.  
“Fine,” agreed Raven, adopting a martyred expression. “But I’m doing this for Finn, is that clear?”  
Bellamy chuckled. “Whatever you say”.  
“Why do you care so much, anyway?” asked Raven, narrowing her eyes.   
“I told you, I’m doing this to save my sister”.  
“Oh, really?” Raven raised her eyebrows. “You’re telling me it’s got nothing to do with this Clarke Griffin girl?”  
Bellamy could feel the flush creeping up his neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“Whatever you say, Bellamy,” Raven snorted. “Just tell her I have one condition”.  
“Name it.”  
“If Finn’s going to the ground, then I’m going with him.”  
“Don’t worry, Raven,” said Bellamy. “We pull this off, we all get to go to the ground.”  
This response appeared to satisfy Raven, at least for the moment.  
“So, when do I get to take a look at these dropships?”

It was no difficult task for Bellamy and Raven to find an open air duct that would lean them down to the lower launch deck that night. They had both spent their childhoods scrounging around for anything they could find to sell on the Ark’s thriving black market and as a result, they knew every nook and cranny of the ship.   
“You do realize it’s going to take more than just my expert mechanical skills to get this dropship launched?” said Raven as she began climbing down the ladder into the air duct after Bellamy. “We’re going to need launch codes, not to mention how in the hell we’re going to get a hundred kids from the skybox down to the launch deck without anyone noticing”.  
“Keep your voice down,” Bellamy hissed. “You’re going to get us both floated”. He swore under his breath as his boot slipped off the rung on which he’d just placed it. “Let’s just see what those expert mechanical skills are up to first, then we’ll worry about the rest”.  
Raven chuckled quietly. “Oh, ye of little faith.”  
Once down on the launch deck, the two of them crept as quietly as they could along the corridor. It was dark and musty, as though no one had been down there in years. Then, without warning, Raven stopped dead, flinging out an arm in front of Bellamy to impede his progress. Bellamy opened his mouth to ask her what the problem was, but she pressed a finger to her lips, warning him to keep quiet. Then he heard it, the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor towards them from the direction in which they’d come. Bellamy looked around frantically, searching for somewhere to hide, but it was already to late.   
“You two want to tell me what you think you’re doing down here?”   
Raven and Bellamy turned around slowly and found themselves face to face with a dark skinned boy in a guardsman’s jacket. Bellamy recognized him instantly as Wells Jaha, the Chancellor’s son. Wells looked from Bellamy to Raven and back again, arms folded across his chest.  
“I’m waiting”.  
Raven slipped her hand into Bellamy’s, interlacing their fingers.  
“We’re sorry,” she said, smiling easily at Wells. “We were just looking for a quiet place to…”  
She bit her lip and giggled, feigning embarrassment. Bellamy had to hand it to her; she was a pretty good actress. Unfortunately, Wells wasn’t so easily fooled. He regarded her skeptically and his gaze travelled to the bag slung over her shoulder.  
“What have you got in there?”  
Raven’s face fell and Bellamy felt his stomach turn over. She handed over the bag and Wells opened it, revealing the myriad tools within that Raven had hoped would be of use in repairing a dropship. Bellamy and Raven exchanged a glance. They both knew the game was up.   
“So is one of you going to tell me what’s going on here?” asked Wells.  
“Why don’t you ask your father?” retorted Bellamy, suddenly feeling defensive. “He’s the one who wants to execute a hundred kids to conserve oxygen”.  
If he had been expecting Wells to look surprised by this, he was disappointed.   
“I’m well aware of my father’s decision and for what it’s worth, I’ve been trying to talk him out of it”.  
Bellamy scoffed. “How civic minded of you.”  
“Don’t be a jerk, Bellamy, none of this is his fault,” said Raven.  
“You privileged are all the same,” Bellamy shot at Wells, ignoring Raven. “You don’t care, not really, we’re the ones with the people we love locked up and sentenced to die, not you.”  
“My father locked up my best friend and floated her father because they both knew something he wanted to keep quiet,” said Wells calmly.  
This statement surprised Bellamy into silence. Raven, meanwhile, was regarding Wells thoughtfully, seemingly as struck by his words as Bellamy, albeit, apparently, for a different reason.   
“Wait, are you talking about Clarke Griffin?”  
It was Well’s turn to appear taken aback.   
“Raven,” said Bellamy, a warning note in his voice.   
“He can help us, Bellamy,” Raven insisted.  
“Help you with what?” asked Wells, looking thoroughly confused.  
Raven shot a glance at Bellamy, who exhaled deeply, coming to a decision. Well’s eyes grew wider and wider and Bellamy and Raven explained their intention to repair a dropship that would carry themselves and the hundred juvenile prisoners to Earth.  
“So, where do I fit into all of this?” asked Wells, once they’d finished.  
“Launch codes,” replied Raven. “We’re going to need them, once I get a dropship fixed up”.  
“I can get them for you,” said Wells confidently.   
Bellamy frowned, suddenly suspicious. “You know what’ll happen if we get caught, don’t you?”  
“We’ll be floated,” replied Wells simply. “I’m prepared to risk it for Clarke.”  
Bellamy nodded, satisfied that Wells was trustworthy. “Good.”

With their unlikely alliance just forged, Bellamy, Wells and Raven began putting the beginning stages of Clarke’s plan into action. Raven, with Bellamy’s help, spent her nights working to repair one of the least dilapidated dropships, while Wells ensured their frequent trips through the air duct to the lower launch deck went unnoticed by the guardsmen. The days passed, until one morning, Wells approached Bellamy in the mess hall while he was waiting in line to receive his rations. Bellamy had just come from the launch deck, where he and Raven had spent the entire night working on the dropship and he was doing his best not to yawn, in spite of his exhaustion.   
“I got the launch codes,” Wells told Bellamy quietly. “And don’t worry, my father’s completely oblivious.”  
“Nice work,” Bellamy responded with a nod. “But we still need someone on the bridge to launch us.”  
He and Raven had been discussing this very issue the previous night while they worked.   
“I’ll do it,” Wells said immediately. “It’s the least I can do for Clarke.”  
“Don’t be stupid,” said Bellamy. “You’ve done more than enough for her already by helping Raven and me, she’d want you on that dropship with us.”  
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Wells muttered.  
“Either way,” said Bellamy. “Seems like we could both use a chance at a fresh start.”  
Wells looked at Bellamy, surprised. “You’ve changed your tune.”  
Bellamy shrugged. “Seems we’ve got more in common than meets the eye.”  
“You’re right,” agreed Wells. “We’re both trying to save someone we care about.”  
Something in his tone made Bellamy suspect the other boy was trying to imply something, although he couldn’t think what that might be.  
“But let’s not forget,” Wells added. “It won’t be much of a fresh start if we all die from exposure to radiation.”  
The two young men lapsed into silence as they both considered the true magnitude of the risk they were taking. Bellamy forced himself to remember why he was taking it. This was his best chance of saving his sister, the only family he had left. Family. That gave Bellamy an idea. He nudged Wells.  
“I think I might know someone who’ll launch the dropship for us.”

Abby looked up with a smile as Bellamy entered the infirmary.  
“I’ll be right with you.”  
She finished tending to the patient she had just been examining, a little girl of around nine or ten years old with long brown hair, whose complaint seemed to be with her eyes, before moving to stand beside Bellamy. She turned to watch the girl walk out of the infirmary, hand in hand with a tall, red haired man Bellamy assumed was the girl’s father, a troubled expression on her face.  
“What’s wrong with her?” Bellamy asked, following Abby’s gaze.  
She shot him a quick, sideways glance before responding. “Oxygen deprivation, it’s damaged her optic nerve.”  
She was silent for several long moments before turning her full attention to Bellamy, smile firmly back in place.  
“Sorry, what can I do for you?”  
Bellamy swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry, wondering if this was such a good idea after all. But then he thought of Clarke. She was counting on him and there was no way he was about to let another person he loved down.   
“We can’t just let her die,” he said in a rush.   
For a split second, Abby appeared taken aback, but then she responded, “What are we supposed to do, Bellamy? We don’t have a choice.”  
Her dark eyes were suddenly brimming with tears.  
“There’s always a choice,” said Bellamy. “And you can make the right one, Clarke needs your help.”  
Abby’s expression began to change to one of steely determination as Bellamy outlined Clarke’s plan.  
“What can I do?”  
“We need you to launch us,” Bellamy replied.   
“I can do that,” said Abby without hesitation. “But I do have one question, how exactly do you plan on getting a hundred kids from the skybox onto a dropship?”  
Bellamy dropped his gaze, chagrinned. “We hadn’t really figured that part out.”  
Abby bit her lip, considering.  
“Strep throat,” she said, after a moment. “I’ll tell the Council there’s been an outbreak among the prisoners and they need to be inoculated, I’ll say they all need to be brought here and then once they’re all out of their cells, I can take them down to the launch deck.”  
“You think the Council will go for that?” Bellamy asked. But even as he said it, he could feel his heart beginning to pound in anxious anticipation, for here was a plan that might actually stand a chance of working.   
“I don’t have to convince the Council,” replied Abby. “Just the Chancellor.”  
Bellamy couldn’t help himself from cracking a tiny smile. “You know, I think I see where Clarke gets her fight from.”  
Abby shook her head sadly. “She gets it from her father, he was always braver than me.”  
“I’d say anyone willing to send their only child down to a radiation soaked planet and risk being floated in the process has to be pretty brave,” said Bellamy quietly.  
Abby stared up at him, seemingly lost for words. Then, without warning, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a gentle embrace. Bellamy couldn’t remember the last time he’d been hugged like that, as though by a mother. He almost wished he could stay like that forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed chapter two! Massive thank you to my beautiful butterfly sister Mary (marysmusicaldaydreams on Tumblr) for helping me overcome a serious case of writer's block and to everyone who has taken the time to read this fic and leave kudos, you're all wonderful! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke sat on the edge of her bed, practically rigid from nerves. She still couldn’t believe this was all actually happening. In a few minutes, the door to her cell would slide open and she would be on her way down to the launch deck, where she would join the other prisoners on board a dropship that would carry them to the ground. The mere thought was enough to make Clarke’s head spin and she forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath.   
“Hey, you okay?”  
Bellamy, who was beside Clarke on the bed, leaned across to place a soothing hand on her shoulder. “You remember the plan, right?”  
Clarke nodded. Everything seemed to be happening extremely fast and she was still trying to process it all. Bellamy had shown up barely twenty minutes previously to tell her that they were launching tonight. High solar flare activity was forecast, which meant the guardsmen would be otherwise occupied and there would be very few, if any, people around to arouse suspicion, as they would all be taking shelter. They could hardly have asked for a better opportunity to affect their escape plan.   
“I still can’t believe my mom actually managed to talk Chancellor Jaha into these ‘inoculations’,” said Clarke, shaking her head slightly. She had to admire her mother’s audaciousness.   
“He wasn’t happy about it,” said Bellamy. “But she talked him round.”  
“I’ll bet she told him she was more than capable of handling as few teenagers on her own,” said Clarke, smiling to herself as she imagined her mother convincing the Chancellor that she could perform the inoculations without a security detail.   
Bellamy chuckled. “Yeah, something like that.”  
“He probably just wants everything to look normal,” Clarke reflected, more than a little bitterly. “People would get suspicious if they heard the Chancellor had allowed an outbreak to spread, he won’t want to risk anyone asking questions and finding out he was planning on executing a hundred kids.”  
“She told him she wasn’t going to let you die any sooner than you had to,” said Bellamy quietly. “Your mom, that’s how she finally got the Chancellor to agree to this.” He turned to looke at Clarke with something like wistfulness in his eyes. “You’re lucky to have a mother like her, she’d do anything for you.”  
“I know,” said Clarke, feeling like she might be on the verge of tears. For a brief moment, she considered asking Bellamy what his mother had been like, but then the door to her cell slid open and Wells Jaha stepped acress the threshold.   
“Abby’s got everyone on board the dropship, are you ready?” he asked, addressing Bellamy.   
“Did Octavia make it on board okay?”  
Wells nodded in response, shooting a glance at Clarke, who was staring hard at him, her mouth pressed into a thin line.  
“You didn’t tell me he was a part of this,” she said, turning to fix her gaze on Bellamy. She scoffed when she caught sight of his guilty expression. “Whatever, let’s just go.”  
“I’ll meet you both down there,” said Wells, turning to leave.   
Clarke stood up, making to follow him, but before she could do so, Bellamy caught her wrist, forcing her to turn her attention back to him.   
“Look, I don’t know what happened between you two,” he said, “but we wouldn’t be launching tonight if he hadn’t gotten us the codes. He did that for you, just keep that in mind.”  
“And if he hadn’t opened his mouth, my father would still be alive,” Clarke responded bitterly. “And I wouldn’t be in here.”   
Hot, angry tears began to spill down her cheeks as Bellamy regarded her questioningly. Clarke swallowed hard before continuing.  
“After I found out what my father knew, I told Wells. He promised he’s stay quiet, but he didn’t and got my father floated.”  
Bellamy was silent for several long moments, his fingers still gently clasped around Clarke’s wrist.   
“And if I hadn’t decided to sneak my sister into that stupid masquerade dance, my mother would still be alive and Octavia wouldn’t be in here,” he said at last. “I made a mistake, a huge one and I have to live with that and I get it, forgiveness is hard, but I really hope you can find it in your heart to give that to Wells someday because for what it’s worth, I think he deserves it.”  
Clarke looked up at Bellamy, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. “You’re right,” she said. “But you’re not the only one trying to forgive yourself.”   
“Maybe we’ll get that someday,” Bellamy responded, barely more than a whisper.   
On impulse, Clarke lifted herself up on tiptoes and gently pressed her lips to Bellamy’s cheek.  
“I hope so.”

Wells and Abby were waiting for them down on the launch deck. Clarke immediately threw herself into her mother’s arms and the two of them embraced tearfully.   
“I’m going to find Octavia,” said Bellamy, gently brushing his fingertips against her lower back as he stepped past her on his way to board the dropship. Clarke watched him retreat down the corridor before turning back to her mother.  
“I have to get up to the bridge,” said Abby, giving Clarke another tight squeeze. “But I wanted to say goodbye.”  
“This isn’t goodbye,” Clarke told her firmly, squeezing back.   
Abby took hold of Clarke’s shoulders and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. “May we meet again.”  
Clarke turned away, brushing tears from her eyes as Abby released her.   
“We really need to get moving,” said Wells, sounding almost apologetic. As she made to follow Wells down the corridor towards the dropship, Clarke turned back to take one last look at her mother, who was already walking away in the opposite direction.   
“May we meet again.”

Clarke jogged down the corridor to catch up with Wells, who had already made it to the foot of the ladder that provided access to the upper levels of the dropship. He turned around as she called out to him.   
“Hey, Wells, wait up!”  
Clarke felt a sharp stab of guilt at the wary expression that flashed across Well’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to chew you out, I actually wanted to say thank you for helping Bellamy and Raven, you risked your life and you have no idea how grateful I am to you for that.”  
Wells’ mouth fell open slightly, as though he couldn’t quite believe his ears. “Clarke, I’m so sorry,” he said at last. “About your father, about everything, I’m just so…”  
“I know,” Clarke cut him off abruptly. “You made a mistake, but I wanted you to know that I forgive you.”  
She felt Wells’ body go suddenly stiff as she leaned forward and enfolded him in her arms, but a moment later he responded by wrapping his own arms around her waist.   
“Are you two coming up here or what?”  
Clarke and Wells broke apart, looking up to see Bellamy standing at the top of the dropship ladder. His arms were folded and he was staring down hard at both of them.   
“We’re coming,” Clarke called back. She turned to Wells. “You ready?”  
He gestured towards the ladder. “After you.”  
Clarke took a deep breath as she placed her foot on the bottom most rung and began to climb. 

Abby had never been on the bridge when it was completely deserted before. She found it somewhat eerie. The guardsmen who were usually posted outside had gone, no doubt to ensure that order was maintained while the solar flares were active and there was not a single Council member or high ranking Ark official to be seen. The usual hubbub of activity had been replaced by a solemn quiet. It was somewhat unfortunate that she had not been able to avoid using her own security code to gain access to the bridge, which meant that it would take the Council all of five minutes to connect her to the launching of the dropship, once they started investigating and she would most likely be floated. But if she had to die so that her daughter might have a second chance at life, then so be it. Clarke was worth the sacrifice. Abby moved to one of the control panels where she could input the launch codes that Wells had made her memorize, but then she froze as the doors through which she had come slid open.   
“Abby, what do you think you’re doing in here?”  
At the sound of her own name, Abby whipped around to see Marcus Kane stepping across the threshold.   
“I could ask you the same question,” she responded evenly, doing her best not to look caught out.   
Kane tilted his head to one side, regarding her coolly. “I went to the infirmary to see if you needed help with your inoculations, but you weren’t there and nor were the prisoners.” He paused, allowing his words to sink in. “Where are they?”  
“They’re on a dropship,” Abby replied. She had already decided that it would be pointless to lie to Kane. “I’m sending them to Earth.”  
If Kane was surprised by this pronouncement, he kept it from showing on his face. “I can’t let you do that.”  
“Why not?” Abby shot back. “You still get your extra oxygen, with none of the culpability.”  
Kane shook his head. “You know Jaha won’t see it that way.” He sighed heavily, folding his arms across his chest. “Abby, I know you don’t want to lose Clarke…”  
“This isn’t just about Clarke,” Abby cut him off abruptly. She stepped forward, closing the space between them. “This is about all of us, if it turns out Earth is survivable then we can all go home.”  
Kane’s eyes seemed to mist over. “You have no idea how much I want that.”  
Abby reached out and took both his hands in hers. “Then please, let me do this.”

Once on board the dropship, Clarke immediately began scanning the sea of faces for Bellamy, who had abruptly disappeared from view when she and Wells began scaling the ladder. She finally spotted him sitting close to the end of the first row of seats and he waved her over. Clarke took a step towards him, then hesitated, turning back to Wells, who was eyeing the single empty seat beside Bellamy.   
“It’s fine,” said Wells tightly, before Clarke could utter a single word. “I’ll go down to the lower deck.” He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before he turned on his heel and began to walk away, leaving Clarke feeling strangely guilty. She made her way over to Bellamy and harnessed herself into the seat on his right.   
“Did you find Octavia?” she asked him.  
He shook his head and she could see the anxiety written in the tense set of his shoulders. Clarke leaned across to place a hand on Bellamy’s forearm, wishing there was something she could say.   
“Looks like you and Wells patched things up,” said Bellamy, shifting slightly so that he was out of Clarke’s reach.  
“Yeah, I decided to take your advice about forgiveness,” said Clarke, frowning at Bellamy, who was studiously avoiding making eye contact with her.   
“Good for you,” he scoffed.  
Clarke leaned back in her seat, hurt and confusion briefly drowning out the anxiety and fear that had been coursing through her for the past hour.   
“Hey, so does someone want to tell us what the hell’s going on?”  
Clarke and Bellamy both twisted around in her seat, craning their necks back to get a view of the speaker. A boy with light brown hair and sharp features sitting two rows behind sneered back at them, a challenge in his expression.   
“And don’t give me any of that ‘we’re going to Earth’ crap because I don’t buy it for a second.”  
“But that’s what Doctor Griffin told us,” piped up another boy sitting in the same row. He couldn’t have been more than fifteen, with wide, dark eyes and a pair of goggles nestled atop a bird’s nest of loose, chocolate colored curls.   
“You can’t seriously be that stupid,” spat the first boy, rounding on the other. “Earth isn’t survivable, so how about someone around here starts telling us the truth for a change.”  
The other delinquents all began clamoring their agreement and soon the metal dropship was echoing with their scared, uncertain voices.   
“Alright, that does it.”  
Bellamy unhooked his harness and stood up, spinning on his heel so that he was facing everyone.   
“Everybody listen up!” he shouted and silence immediately fell. “I know you’re afraid, but how you choose to handle that fear is up to you. You can let it break you or you can use it to make you stronger! Are we just a bunch of kids who weren’t strong enough to survive on the Ark? Because if we sit back and let the Council decide our fates, if we let the fear win, that is what they’ll say about us, but I say screw fear! I’m telling my own damn story!”  
Clarke stared at Bellamy, utterly awestruck and when she looked around at the other delinquents, she saw that they were staring at him too. There was no denying he cut an impressive figure, standing tall and straight backed, a defiant expression in his liquid brown eyes, a king without a throne. But it was more than that. He somehow understood exactly what the frightened, confused delinquents needed to hear. Clarke suddenly found herself thinking that if Earth did turn out to be survivable, even though right now that felt like a pretty big if, they might actually stand a chance at making it with Bellamy to lead them.   
“That was amazing,” she told him as he harnessed himself back into his seat. He looked over at her for the first time since she had sat down beside him. But before either of them could say anything more, there was an ear-piercing screech of metal and the dropship began to shudder violently, causing shouts of alarm to go up among the delinquents.  
“I think we just launched,” Bellamy observed.   
Clarke closed her eyes, forcing back the sudden tidal wave of fear that threatened to overwhelm her. She felt Bellamy take her left hand, which had been resting in her lap and interlace their fingers. Bellamy’s hand was warm and comforting, his grip firm and sure and Clarke held on tightly as the dropship began juddering its way to Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading and sorry I'm not sorry for leaving you guys hanging ;) but hopefully this makes up for the severe lack of Bellarke in Chapter 2! Chapter 4 will probably be the final chapter in this work.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Chapter 2 is well underway and should be posted shortly! In the meantime, you can find me on Tumblr (frecklessbellamy), my ask box is always open so don't be shy, come say hi!


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